The line's busy

Good morning Staker! Here’s what’s cookin’ today. How about a winter train trip, a possible solution for the plastic waste crisis, and Wikipedia releases their first take at Wrapped 🔍

Let’s get into it!

Historically, some of the most luxurious and scenically stunning travel experiences have been aboard a train. The Orient Express comes to mind, but with winter descending quickly upon the Northern Hemisphere, what kind of train ride fits the mood?

Have you ever seen a picture or video of a red locomotive traversing a stone bridge with a snowy white back drop thousands of feet up on the side of a mountain? That would be the Bernina Express (the very one you see above). A ride on this route can be one of the most visually stunning experiences a traveller can have, especially in winter.

At this time of year the rail line from Chur, Switzerland to Tirano, Italy passes by the White Lago (White Lake) beneath, which gets blanketed in snow when it freezes, making those aboard the train feel like they’re quietly passing through a castle in the clouds.

How bout the California Zephyr? The three-day ride from Chicago to San Francisco passes through the Rocky Mountains and Sierra Nevada, proving to travellers there’s much more than prairies and deserts. You can’t drive through these routes, but thanks to railroad engineering, there’s a way to see them.

Then there’s the Great Northern Voyage from Vancouver to Toronto, which traverses the country in the ultimate slow travel experience. The trip will see you pass snow covered cedars and ice covered lakes and, with fewer travellers aboard, you’ll be sure to have a million dollar view.

Spotify Wrapped is almost as popular as the music itself and has inspired competitors like Apple and YouTube Music to release their own versions, along with other apps like Duolingo and even Starbucks.

Now Wikipedia has thrown its hat in the ring, though its version of the annual summary is only available to users of the Wikipedia mobile app.

Users can get a summary of how much time they spent on the site this year, which articles they viewed most and for how long, and which general topics were of the most interest to them.

The Wikimedia Foundation also released site-wide data, revealing a whopping 4.6 billion hours were spent on Wikipedia over the course of the year, 2.4 billion of which were spent on English-language articles.

On top of that, over 66 million edits were made across the entire site by the foundation’s army of volunteer editors.

The top five articles this year in terms of how many visits were made to each were the articles for Charlie Kirk, Deaths in 2025, Ed Gein, Donald Trump, and Pope Leo XIV.

According to a report published by the Pew Charitable Trust and its partners, humanity dumps 143 million tons of plastic waste every year, and that number is on track to rise to 309 million by 2040.

For a visual understanding of how much waste that is, the report describes it as dumping a garbage truck full of plastic every second, and it’s dumped into landfills, the sea, or released into the air.

Should the world continue down this path, the authors predict plastic-associated global carbon emissions will rise by 58%, plastic-associated health issues will rise by 75%, and hundreds of billions will eventually be spent trying to contain the problem.

That’s where the good news kicks in. According to the report, roughly two thirds of a possible 97% reduction in plastic waste by 2040 could come simply from introducing deposit return refunds and reuse policies (similar to how some provinces and states buy back glass bottles) for primary-plastic products used for packaging.

The authors acknowledge this would also necessitate the rerouting of over half a trillion private sector dollars from primary plastic production toward incentivizing consumers to return or reuse it. However, their point is that the tools and intellectual capital already exist to make it possible.

Kiss was given Kennedy Center honors the other night, with President Donald Trump presenting the group’s three living original members with medals for their contributions to American music in an Oval Office ceremony.

Ace Frehley’s daughter accepted the honors on her father’s behalf, who passed away after falling down the stairs at his studio in October.

Paul Stanley told NPR the other day ahead of the acceptance ceremony that the group could “mourn him, and we can celebrate what we accomplished.”

The day before, Gene Simmons was quoted in the New York Post, saying Frehley “refused [advice] from people that cared about him—including yours truly—to try to change his lifestyle. In and out of bad decisions. Falling down the stairs—I’m not a doctor—doesn’t kill you. There may have been other issues, and it breaks my heart."

Kennedy Center honors were also presented to George Strait, Michael Crawford, Gloria Gaynor, and Sylvester Stallone.

Rerun fun

We’ve got a real TV treat for you today, Staker, as we take a stroll down syndicated rerun lane! 📺

We’re talking Lucy, the Beaver, Opie and Andy…all the faves in today’s trivia! Give it go, complete the game, and you’ll earn a shot at a $25 eGift Card ;)

Winner will be notified on Wednesday afternoon. Keep an eye on your inbox and don’t forget to check your spam folder!*